OFF THE WIRE
“YOU’RE a wanker and you need to be shot.”
Insults flew during the trial of alleged Rebel bikie club members accused of extortion, when a prosecution witness became fed up with one of the defence barristers.
Georgia Anderson apologised to the court, but refused to apologise to Rick Taylor, the man to whom her disdain was directed.
Mr Taylor is the defence counsel for Adam Warwick McCrea, and the insults arose as Ms Anderson was cross-examined.
Ms Anderson told the court that she was McCrea’s ex-girlfriend and was present at the time of the alleged offence on December 6 2008.
Mr Taylor asked Ms Anderson to expand on comments she made about him while leaving the court last week, to which a feisty Ms Anderson said exactly what her comments were, and unrepentantly affirmed her opinion of the barrister.
According to Ms Anderson, McCrea and two of the other accused met in Hervey Bay and talked about a body-piercing store which angered McCrea by opening without his permission.
Ms Anderson also said that once the co-accused were at the Maryborough store on December 6, the threat about a person or persons being thrown through a window might not have been made towards the store’s owners, Khris and Emma Bust.
When asked who the threat was against, Ms Anderson said it could have been Courtney Ward, a friend of the Bust’s who was also at the store.
Other witnesses called yesterday included two Kent Street shop owners who saw the incident and the investigating officer Detective Sergeant Nicholas Crawford.
Det Sgt Crawford responded firmly to questions about the initial summary of events an officer made on December 6 which contained no mention of the window threat, telling the jury the summary was an unsigned overview of events, not a detailed statement and it formed no part of the police’s brief of evidence.
Following Det Sgt Crawford’s testimony, the Crown closed its case and the defendants were asked if they would like to produce any evidence on their behalf.
All five men – McCrea, Gary Wayne Hyland, Sean Edwin Foster, Peter Ross Hill and Mark Darren Berghoffer – declined this opportunity, meaning that today will see the closing arguments from the Crown and the four defence barristers.
http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/story/2011/03/25/witness-insults-barrister-trial-rebel-bikie-club/
